


Not Exactly Cross-cultural

by UmbralStars



Series: Those Who Weave Fate [1]
Category: Fire Emblem Heroes, Fire Emblem Series
Genre: Cultural Differences, Culture Shock, Fictional Religion & Theology, Gen, Gender-Neutral Summoner | Eclat | Kiran, Happy Birthday Alfonse, Worldbuilding, can be either shippy or platonic, sharena and henriette are only mentioned, talking about cultures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:27:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26224150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UmbralStars/pseuds/UmbralStars
Summary: Kiran wakes Alfonse up early in the morning with a smile and an overly sweet, Kiran styled cake. His favorite cake to be precise.Alfonse only has one question: What are they celebrating?
Relationships: Alfonse & Summoner | Eclat | Kiran, Alfonse/Summoner | Eclat | Kiran
Series: Those Who Weave Fate [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2149731
Comments: 4
Kudos: 68





	Not Exactly Cross-cultural

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Birthday to my favorite FEH character.

An ever so slight jostling of his body was all that Alfonse could register at first. On instinct, his eyes shot open and he very nearly lept to where Folkvangr usually sat at his bedside; only to notice a pair of familiar gloved hands waving frantically at him. "Hey! Hey! Al it's me! Chill out!" Kiran brought their face into full view, and Alphonse instantly felt his panic calm.

"Gods beyond! Kiran, please, do not scare me like that."

"Sorry Al! Kinda forgot you freak out when being woken up like that..."

Any panic or anger left in Alfonse immediately evaporated upon hearing Kiran's apologetic tone, "It is alright, Kiran," he took a moment to bring up a hand to rub the lingering sleep out of his eyes, "What are you doing here so early anyways?"

Kiran's smile quickly returned to their face as they ducked down to pick up two small cakes from the floor. The small cake was covered in a deep snow of powdered sugar, and from the little bit of dark brown Alfonse could see through the blanket he assumed it must be chocolate. Pieces of cut strawberries sat next to the cake; perfectly placed in between sprigs of mint. They presented him one of the plates, "Happy Birthday Alfonse!"

Birth....day? Alfonse hoped his confusion didn't reach his eyes as he reached out to take the plate and fork from Kiran. It was warm. Was it lava cake? Without missing a beat, Alfonse pulled off a small piece, and sure enough a river of molten chocolate began to flow from the open wound. Alfonse knew Kiran liked baking whenever possible, and became enormed that the prince's favorite was lava cake, but he really couldn't figure out why exactly Kiran would've gotten up so early to make it. Judging from Kiran's excited demeanor, and choice of words, he assumed it was for a special occasion, but what? Did it have something to do with this "birthday" thing Kiran said? The Prince placed the piece of cake in his mouth. It was very sweet, a staple of Kiran's baking as they always made things far sweeter than any Askran baker, moist and spongy, and it warmed him right down to his toes. He stole a glance over at his companion. Kiran's smile only seemed to grow brighter once they saw Alfonse enjoying the cake. "You know Al-" Kiran took a bite of their own cake "-it's kind of strange Sharena's not here. I'd expected she'd be the type to surprise you early on your birthday too."

Alfonse halted right as he stuck his fork into the strawberry. There was that word again. "Birthday." Alfonse assumed it had to be important given Kiran mentioned it twice now, but Alfonse still had no clue what they were talking about. "Kiran what-"

"It is the 30th day of the Great Rain Moon, right? I asked your mother and she said that's the day you were born."

Alfonse set his plate aside, "Yes. That's correct I was born on today many years ago." He hoped the confusion didn't show too much in his voice, but given Kiran's now confused expression he doubted it. Although, he did feel better not being the only one confused anymore. 

"Ok," Kiran leaned onto the bed looking Alfonse directly in the eyes, "are you guys playing a prank on me or something?"

"A prank?! Kiran I would never!"

"Then what's with all the confused faces?! Miss Henrietta also looked really confused when I asked, and I haven't heard Sharena talk about it at all-"

Alfonse let any and all decorum slip away as he grabbed Kiran's hand. The summoner huffed and looked at him with an expression Alfonse knew all too well. The blunette knew how much the Summoner hated being left out of the loop, but, "I know you want me to explain," he started hoping to appease some of Kiran's irritation, "but first I have to ask you: What do you mean by 'birthday'?"

Any irritation left on Kiran's face quickly gave way to the most incredulous look Alfonse had ever seen on them. "You're joking right?" they asked almost completely deadpan.

"No. I most certainly am-"

"YOU'RE NOT JOKING?!"

Alfonse couldn't help but flinch away when Kiran yelled, "I assure you I am not."

A beat passed. Kiran fidgeted with the bedsheets while casting their eyes away from Alfonse. The Prince sighed, moved over towards the opposite side, and patted the bed so Kiran knew it was alright to join him. They set aside their plates on the bedside table before hoisting themself up to sit comfortably beside Alfonse. "So you really don't celebrate your birthday?"

"I assume you mean the day we were born?"

Kiran nodded and tilted their had to the side, "Yeah, you celebrate turning a year older with friends and family. Usually you have a party or get together, eat food, and open presents. At least that's how it's generally done."

Alfonse pondered for a moment. So that's what Kiran had meant? Alfonse swore he remembered a few books talk about a similar traditions in other worlds, but it had skipped past his still somewhat sleepy mind. "No we don't do that here in Askr," Kiran's expression seemed to fall, so Alfonse squeezed their still interlaced hands, "However, we do have something similar."

"Really?!"

Alfonse's heart skipped a beat at Kiran's curious tone. Kiran was interested. Anytime new things about Askr's culture came up, his friend's curiosity grew tenfold. Knowing Kiran was so interested about learning about Askr made him...happy. He had always been interested about learning the cultures of other worlds, and finding someone else who shared a similar passions overjoyed him. He cleared his throat, "In Askr, we celebrate the opening of the year on the day between the end of Elm Tree Moon and the beginning of Ash Tree Moon, or between the Twilight Moon and the Ash Tree Moon depending on the year."

"On those 'special days' at the beginning and end of each month, right?"

"Precisely. We celebrate it on the Opening Day before the first Moon of the new year begins and it lasts into the first day of the Moon. The Festival is known as the Sun's Dawn, and it's said to be the day Bahelios, the Dragon of Life, gave the first breath to the first mortals. That is when we celebrate our 'birthdays' and wish for good fortune for the coming year. Everyone in Askr has a giant feast put on by their communities, and we give gifts to close friends and family. It's also considered to be the first day of Spring, despite how cold it may still be."

"So everyone in Askr becomes a year older on the same day?"

Alfonse nodded in extra confirmation, "Yes we do."

"Huh. That's pretty cool. I mean it's still kind of weird to me since I've celebrated my birthday my whole life."

Alfonse shrugged. Reaching past Kiran, he grabbed his cake off the bedside table, "Well, celebrating individual birthdays sounds really strange to me. Having to remember that for three hundred or so years honestly seems very taxing. What if the years start blending together? Much easier to celebrate the next year of life all at once."

Kiran stopped reaching for their own cake, and turned very slowly back to look at Alfonse. A look of utter shock covered their face, "Hold on a second!" Alfonse smirked. He knew enough about Humans to know exactly where this was going. "What do you mean 'three hundred or so' years?!"

Alfonse popped the strawberry into his mouth. Sweet. Kiran even slightly sugared the strawberries. "Since I have divine blood it might actually be five hundred or so years for me," he stated almost absentmindedly. Kiran really did like to have their sweets sweet, huh?

"How old are you?!" Kiran's voiced seemed to raise an entire octave as they gripped the Prince's shoulders in near panic.

Alfonse sat his fork down to pat his friend's hand, "I turned twenty-two last Sun's Dawn, do not fear."

Kiran's hands dropped from his shoulders; allowing the Prince to cut off another piece of cake and dunk it into the still warm chocolate. Biting it off the fork, he looked over in amusement to his friend. Kiran's hands still rested on the bed; their mouth was agape, their bangs were falling to their eyes, and their eyes were scrunched up like they were trying to figure something. "How old are your parents?" Kiran asked in a whisper.

Alfonse couldn't help the laugh that fell from his lips. He laughed until he had to wipe away the tears gathering in his eyes. He shook his head at the small quiver that remained in his chest, and cut himself another piece of cake.

"Al?"

He stuck the slice into his mouth with a strawberry this time. He felt at peace. It was just Kiran and him celebrating an Earth thing, with the Prince being the center of the celebration nonetheless, and Alfonse honestly wouldn't have it any other way.

"Al, please answer me."

He wouldn't mind doing this again next year. Or better yet, "Kiran, when is your birthday?"

**Author's Note:**

> I may have missed Al's birthday, but it won't stop me from posting this dangit. I y'all liked seeing a small bit of worldbuilding I've done for Askr; it took me half a day to actually get down how the calendar system worked.


End file.
